FIRE!

What do you think of when you think of fire?

The first thing that comes to my mind is when my parents' home burned...

a painful and traumatic experience for our whole family.

 

The second thing I think of is when my husband and I burned a large brush pile

in the middle of winter when there was a lot of snow on the ground.

That was a much more enjoyable and unusual experience!

I lost the original picture of that,

but you can see the photo of it by clicking on my Facebook page.

Another thing I think of when I think of "Fire", is...

THE FIRE OF GOD!

I recently did a little study on this after coming across this verse:

"Fire blazed out from the LORD's Presence"

(Leviticus 9:24) 

 In the Bible, fire is often associated with the Presence of God. 

 Hebrews 12:29 says "Our God is a consuming (or devouring) fire."  

Fire denoted His acceptance of offerings,

 often blazing out and devouring the sacrifice in Old Testament days

 (Leviticus 9:24).  

But it also shot from heaven to annihilate those who mocked God by turning from Him 

and trying to impersonate His presence with their own "strange fire". 

 (Leviticus 10:2, Exodus 30:9, and Numbers 3:4)

Jesus said He came to "set the world on fire" (Luke 12:49), 

and He did so by sending the Fire of the Holy Spirit!

(Matthew 3:11, Luke 3:16-17, and Acts 2:3).

God often uses "fire" to purify our lives (Zechariah 13:9),

and to try our works to see if they have any value 

(1Corinthians 13:12-15).

When the "Day of the LORD" comes,

 God will use fire to melt away the impurites of the earth 

before He establishes a "new heaven and a new earth"

 (2 Peter 3:10-13).

Like Moses who boldly stepped into the fiery presence of God 

(Exodus chapters 3, 19, and 33),

I would rather know God intimately, 

choose to see His glory and know His passionate fire and love in my life, 

than to meet Him in the fires of judgment in the last days! 

(2 Thessalonians 1:8).

There's a LOT of Scripture references here!

 They can easily be looked up in various translations in either

Blue Letter Bible,  Bible Gateway, or your own personal favorite website or hard copy.

(Just a reminder, free downloads on your Kindle of "Joy in the Mourning" by going to Amazon)

The Long Way Home...

Shortcuts are not always the best way!

"When Pharoah let the people go, God did not lead them on the road... though that was shorter."  Exodus 13:17

!

"So God led the people around..."

God says He will show us the path of life.

Psalm 16:11 

He says if we look for Him, we will find Him.

Jeremiah 29:13 

He even promises that our ears will hear a voice behind us,

saying,

"This is the way. Walk in it"!

Isaiah 30:21 

"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them: I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.  These are the things I will do for them."  Isaiah 42:16

God says He will go before us,

level our mountains,

break down the gates that look impossible,

so that we may know He is the LORD,

the One who knows us by name!

Isaiah 45:2-3

I'd rather take the long way around with God

than to trust the devil's short-cuts, wouldn't you?

Okay, in this post

I've given you a clue what my Name of God on Rocks will be for this week.

Can you guess what it is?